Understand

The Longobardis occupied the Peninsula in the 6th century, and the territory has been named after them ever since.

Lombardy is a prosperous region with fertile soil and a temperate climate. As in Piedmont, the Po Valley is the site of much heavy industry. High mountains in the north, marking Italy’s frontier with Switzerland, provide excellent skiing and climbing.

Get in

Milan is serviced by two airports, Malpensa and Linate. Check their website for information.
There are also smaller airports in Brescia (Montichiari airport) and Bergamo (Orio al Serio airport, which is the destination of many low fares flight).

Road and train links connect the region with Switzerland. As Switzerland is not part of the EU, there is a possibility that you will be delayed by checks at the border, although these are infrequent and usually not rigorous. Remember your passport.

Get around

You can use cars or catch Trains

Eat

Lombardy’s most famous culinary inventions are minestrone soup and osso buco (literally "ox knuckles"). To the west of Milan lie miles of rice fields, where the rice for risotto alla milanese is grown.

Drink

The wineries in Franciacorta, around Erbusco, produce many excellent wines. The region has been elevated to the status of DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata).
Other remarkable zones for wine are Oltrepò Pavese (which is the zone around Pavia on the south banks of Po river) and the countrysides around Garda Lake.

Valtellina also produces excellent wines, famous for their strong taste and flavour.

As every big city in the world, Milan has also many high quality restaurants, wine bars and Enoteche (wine store) where you can find high class wines from all over the world.